Applejack's Christmas Carol
by Daniel Fielder
Summary: When Sunset is visited by the spirit of her old business partner, Trixie, she must change her ways or be condemned. Yes, this is another Christmas Carol fic.
1. Trixie's Ghost

Another Pony-Disney mash-up, and this time, a certain unicorn is the hero.

Disclaimer: Mickey's Christmas Carol belongs to Walt Disney, and My Little Pony belongs to Hasbro, the Hub, and Lauren Faust.

* * *

 **Applejack's Christmas Carol**

Chapter 1: Trixie's Ghost

In Ponyville, on Christmas Eve, the stingiest mare in town, Sunset Shimmer, walked down the street. There was no Christmas cheer in her heart though. Sunset hated the whole idea of Christmas. As he walked, he passed a homeless mare as she outstretched her hoof.

"Give a penny for the poor ma'am." The mare said. "Penny for the poor."

"Bah." Sunset said simply before continuing to his counting house, Sunset & Trixie. Sunset never bothered to paint out Trixie's name.

"My partner Trixie Lulamoon." Sunset said calmly. "Dead seven years today. She was a good businessmare. She robbed from the widows and swindled the poor."

Sunset looked at the sign and smirked.

"In her will he left me enough money for her tombstone, and I had her buried at sea." Sunset chuckled to herself.

()()()()()

Inside the store, Sunset's bookmare, Applejack, was about to put a thing of coal in the fire while Sunset was out when she came in.

"Oh... Uh..." Applejack said nervously. "Good morning Miss Sunset."

"Applejack, what are you doing with that piece of coal?!" Sunset asked angrily.

"I was just trying to thaw out the ink, ma'am." Applejack said timidly as she pointed to the ice covered ink quill.

"You used a piece last week!" Sunset snapped as she grabbed the coal and tossed it in a bucket. "Now get on with your work, Applejack!"

"Speaking of work Miss Sunset tomorrow is Christmas, and I was wondering if I could have... Half the day off?"

"Christmas." Sunset spat angrily as he thought. "Mm... Oh, I suppose so, but I'll dock you half a day's pay. Now let's see... I pay you two bits a day."

"Uh, two bits and a hay-penny, ma'am." Applejack corrected.

"Oh right." Sunset said. "I gave you that raise three years ago."

"Yes ma'am." Applejack said. "When I started doing your laundry."

"Alright Applejack, get busy while I go over my books, oh and I've got another bundle of shirts for you." Sunset said as he tossed a moderately large laundry bag at Applejack.

"Yes ma'am." Applejack said quickly.

Sunset then sat down and went over her notes as a large amount of money sat in front of her.

"Now let's see..." Sunset mused. "One hundred and twelve bits from Pie, plus her eighty-percent interest, compounded daily..."

Sunset laughed as she played a little with a few coins.

"Money, money, money."

Then the door opened, and Sunset's niece and only living relative, Sweetie Belle came in.

"Merry Christmas!" Sweetie Belle called out.

"And a merry Christmas to ya, Sweetie Belle." Applejack said as she took a break from her books to talk to Sweetie Belle.

"Bah humbug." Sunset muttered.

"Merry Christmas, Aunt Sunset!" Sweetie Belle called out with a smile.

"What's so merry about it?" Sunset asked moodily. "I'll tell you what Christmas is, it's just another work day, and any jackanapes who thinks else should be boiled in his own pudding!"

"Ew." Sweetie Belle remarked.

"But sir Christmas is a time for giving." Applejack said quickly. "A time to be with one's family."

"I say 'Bah humbug.'" Sunset said stubbornly.

"I don't care!" Sweetie Belle called out. "I say 'Merry Christmas!'"

"Well said Sweetie Belle!" Applejack called out as he applauded.

"Applejack, what are you doing?!" Sunset asked angrily.

"Uh..." Applejack said nervously as he stopped clapping. "Just trying to keep my hooves warm, sir."

"And what are you doing here, Niece?" Applejack asked testily.

"I've come to give you a reef and invite you to Christmas dinner." Sweetie Belle said as she handed Sunset the reef.

"Well..." Sunset said with a smile. "I suppose you're going to have plump goose with chestnut dressing?"

"Yup." Sweetie Belle confirmed.

"And will you have plum pudding and lemon sauce?" Sunset continued.

"Oh yes!" Sweetie Belle said with a widening smile.

"And spiced sugar cakes with candied fruit?" Sunset finished.

"Yes!" Sweetie Belle said excitedly. "Yes! Will you come?"

"Are you insane?" Sunset snapped. "You know I can't eat that stuff, now get out!"

"Alright." Sweetie Belle said as he put the reef on the door. "Merry Christmas!"

"And a bah humbug to you!" Sunset shouted back, but Sweetie Belle had already left.

"That Sweetie Belle." Applejack said with a chuckle. "Always so full a'kindness."

"Yeah." Sunset said. "She always was a little peculiar." The door opened again. "And stubborn!"

Instead of Sweetie Belle, a purple unicorn mare was there with a yellow pegasus mare walked in.

"Oh, customers." Sunset said with an excited smile. "I'll handle this, Applejack."

Sunset then walked up to the two.

"Yes, what can I do for you two ladies?" Sunset asked.

"Ma'am, I'm Twilight Sparkle, and this is my associate, Fluttershy." Twilight said. "We are soliciting funds for the impudent and destitute."

"For the what?" Sunset asked.

"We're collecting money for the poor." Fluttershy translated.

"Oh..." Sunset said. "Well, you do realize that if you give money to the poor, they won't be poor anymore."

"Well that's true." Fluttershy said.

"And if they're not poor anymore, then you won't have to raise money for them anymore." Sunset went on, putting on a concerned front.

"Well, I suppose." Twilight admitted.

"And if you don't have to raise money for them anymore, then you would be out of a job." Sunset said as he opened the door, and the two walked out. "Oh please gentlemen, don't ask me to put you out of a job, not on Christmas Eve."

"Oh, we'd never do that, Miss Sunset." Twilight said.

"Well then," Sunset finished, going back to his normal manner at once. "I suggest you give this to the poor and be gone!"

She tossed the wreath Sweetie Belle had given her at Fluttershy who caught it reflexively and slammed the door in their faces.

"What's this world coming to, Applejack?" Sunset asked as Applejack turned to listen. "You work all your life to get money, and ponies want you to give it away."

()()()()()

As the day came to its end, Applejack used a nearby lamp to keep herself warm, which wasn't too easy. She then glanced over at the clock and smiled when she saw that it was only fifteen seconds until quitting time. Finishing up her last sentence, she closed the book and got ready to head home.

"Two minutes fast." Sunset remarked as Applejack gulped and was about to get back to work when Sunset stopped her. "Eh, never mind those two minutes. You can go now."

"Thank ya, ma'am!" Applejack said as she hopped down. "You're so kind-"

"Never mind the mushy stuff!" Sunset shouted. "Just go, but be here all the earlier the next afternoon!"

"I will!" Applejack said excitedly. "I will ma'am, and a bah hum- I mean, a merry Christmas to ya ma'am!"

Applejack then picked up the bag of Sunset's shirts and walked off as all Sunset said in reply was, "Bah."

()()()()()

At nine at night, Sunset closed up the counting house and walked off to her house, which had once belonged to Trixie. As Sunset unlocked the door, she looked at the knocker just as it turned into Trixie's face.

"Sunset..." Trixie said in an eerie voice.

"Trixie Lulamoon?" Sunset asked in shock. "No, that can't be!"

Thinking she was just wearied from a good day's work, she touched the knocker's nose, and exclaimed in a way that frightened Sunset so badly, she ran into the house. After catching her breath, she put what had happened off as stress with all the fools she had to deal with that day. She then began to walk upstairs when she heard footsteps coming up behind her. She turned, but no one was there. She went on, and again she heard the footsteps. She turned around again, but still no one was there. She looked down from the stairway, but nothing was there either. She walked on when she heard the footsteps for a third time and turned to see a shadow of a unicorn mare with the profile of Trixie. Sunset shouted in shock and terror and rushed to her living room, bolting the door and hiding in her seat.

"Sunset Shimmer..." Trixie's voice called out from the other side of the door.

"GO AWAY!" Sunset shouted as a blue-white, transparent version of Trixie walked in. Aside from her usually wizard's hat and cape, Trixie also wore a long chain with cash boxes and safes attached to it.

"Suns-AHH!" Trixie exclaimed as she tripped on a lose rug and ended up landing right next to her chair.

"A bit more hazardous here than I remember." Trixie said calmly as she got up and looked at Sunset, apparently noticing a look of terror.

"Sunset, don't you recognize me?" Trixie asked. "In life I was your partner, Trixie Lulamoon."

Sunset hadn't wanted to believe it, but looking at Trixie's face, she was forced to, and that actually helped to calm her down a little.

"Trixie, it is you." Sunset said as her eyes widened.

"Sunset," Trixie said as she stood straight up. "Remember when Trixie was alive, she robbed the widows and swindled the poor?"

"Yes, and all on the same day." Sunset said with a smile at the memories. "Oh, you had class Trixie."

"Yup." Trixie said with a smug look before shaking his head. "Wait, no! No! I was wrong, and so as punishment, I'm forced to carry these chains for eternity! ... Maybe even longer. With no hope. I'm doomed! Doomed!"

Trixie then turned her face to Sunset.

"And the same thing will happen to you, Sunset."

"No!" Sunset gasped in fear as she recoiled from the chains that were close by her chair. "No it can't! It mustn't! Help me, Trixie!"

"Tonight, you will be visited by three spirits." Trixie informed Sunset. "Listen to them, and do what they say, or your chains will be heavier than Trixie's."

Sunset agreed nervously as she turned nervously around.

"Farewell Sunset..." Trixie called out as she walked back, making sure to be mindful of the rug. "Farewell . . ."

"Trixie!" Sunset called out as she remembered something about the stairway. "Watch out for that first-"

There were several loud screams and grunts as Trixie's ghost fell down the stairs.

"Step." Sunset finished before going off to bed.

* * *

Spooky, huh?


	2. The First of the Spirits

Chapter Two: The First of the Spirits

That night, Sunset searched her room all over with a candle before putting it on the table.

"Spirits." She scoffed. She'd obviously been stressed as she got into bed and blew out her candle. "Humbug!"

Sunset then went to sleep.

()()()()()

As Sunset slept, a pink alicorn mare walked up. Her hair was pink, yellow, and purple, and she wore a purple bridle. She starred at the fireplace, and the fire came on. She then rang the bell on the clock, which read two o'clock, but Sunset continued sleeping.

"Hm." The mare mused. She rang the bell again, and Sunset got up.

"Oh, what?" Sunset asked.

"Well it's about time." The mare said. "We haven't got all night, you know."

"Who... Who are you?" Sunset asked in surprise.

"I'm the Ghost of Christmas Past." The mare said. "You can call me Cadence for short."

"I would think someone like you would look a little older." Sunset observed.

"Well Sunset, if mares were aged by kindness, you'd be no older than a newborn foal." Cadence retorted calmly.

"Kindness is of little use in this world." Sunset said as he prepared to go back to sleep.

"You didn't always think so." Cadence said. "Come on, Sunset, it's time to go."

"Then go." Sunset said agitatedly when Cadence walked to a window, and opened it.

"Cadence!" Sunset called out in alarm. "What are you doing?!"

"We're going to visit your past." Cadence explained.

"I'm not going out there." Sunset countered. "I'll fall."

"Take my hoof, and you'll be lifted." Cadence said, as Sunset apprehensively took Cadence's hoof, and they were flying above Canterlot in an instant, having a wild ride.

()()()()()

They stopped at a small shop.

"Cadence, I think I know this place." Sunset mused. "Yes! It's old Granny Smith's! I couldn't have worked for a kinder mare."

Inside the shop, Granny Smith, alive again, was dancing with several others.

"Why it's old Granny himself!" Sunset exclaimed. "And all of my very dearest friends!"

Sunset then turned to a shy filly who looked very slim.

"And that shy girl in the corner, that's me." Sunset remarked.

"Yes." Cadence said. "Before you became a miserable miser consumed by greed."

"Well nobody's perfect." Sunset defended before looking at a blue haired pegasus colt with an orange coat blue eyes. "There he is. There's lovely Flash."

()()()()()

Flash walked up to the younger Sunset.

"Sunset?" Flash asked. "Sunset."

"Yes, Flash?" Sunset asked nervously as Flash pulled her under the mistletoe.

"My eyes are closed, my lips are puckered, and I'm standing under the mistletoe." Flash said.

"You're also standing on my hoof." Flash pointed out before Flash chuckled, and they began dancing with everypony as Sunset smiled. The dance ended with Flash kissing Sunset's cheek, and her mind went to mush.

()()()()()

"Oh, I remember how much I was in love with him." Sunset said nostalgically when there was a sudden wind, and the entire area became darkened.

"In ten years' time, you learned to love something else." Cadence said as Sunset looked around and found herself in a very familiar place.

"It's my counting house!" Sunset said in surprise.

"Yes." Cadence said. "You had just formed your partnership with Trixie. Your business was new, but your ways were set."

"Oh, please!" Sunset said as she suddenly remembered the day. "Spare me the rest!"

"You have to drain the cup to the dregs for this trip to do good." Cadence said. "Recall how you drove love from your heart and replaced it with the worship of money."

()()()()()

"Nine-thousand four-hundred and forty two." Sunset said as she put a coin on top of a large pile from several foreclosures and debt payments. "Nine-thou-"

"Sunset?" Flash asked from behind the pile of coins.

"Yes, what is it?" Sunset asked.

"For years I've had the honeymoon cottage Sunset." Flash said. "I've been waiting for you to keep your promise to marry me. Now I must know; have you made your decision?"

"I have!" Sunset said finally as she pulled out the mortgage paper of the cottage. "Your last payment on the cottage was an hour late! I'm foreclosing the mortgage!"

()()()()()

Sunset watched Flash burst into tears and walk away.

Go after him you young fool! Sunset called out angrily at her past self.

"You loved your money more than that precious colt, and you lost him forever." Cadence reminded her as a look of anger crossed Flash's face as he closed the door, causing the pile of gold to crash down on the table.

"Please spirit." Flash moaned. "I can no longer bare these memories. Take me home."

"Remember Sunset." Cadence said as the scene, and Cadence, was beginning to fade away. "You fashioned these memories yourself..."

* * *

Wow. Talk about a dumb choice, huh?


	3. The Second of the Spirits

Chapter Three: The Second of the Spirits

Back on Sunset's own bed, she still brooded about her mistakes.

"Why was I so foolish?" Sunset asked himself. "Why? Why?"

Suddenly, a light shone in through her curtains, and she looked on in surprise.

"What's this?" Sunset asked as he looked through the curtains to see a white alicorn mare with a rainbow mane and magenta eyes.

"Hello." The mare said.

Sunset quickly closed the curtains, and when she opened them again, she was still there.

"Hello again." The mare said again.

"Please, let me go!" Sunset called out in fear. "Don't hurt me!"

"Why would the Ghost of Christmas Present, that's me, you can call me Celestia, hurt a distasteful little miser like you, especially when there are so many good things to enjoy in life?"

Sunset came out, and she then noticed that the room was full of food.

"Oh..." Sunset said in awe. "Mince pies. Turkeys. Suckling pig. But where did all this come from?" Sunset asked.

"From the heart, Sunset." Celestia explained. "It's the food of generosity which you have long denied your fellow mares."

"Generosity?!" Sunset asked angrily. "Nopony's ever shown me generosity!"

"You've never given them reason to." Celestia explained calmly. "And yet, there are those who still find enough warmth in their hearts even for the likes of you."

"No acquaintance of mine." Sunset said coldly. "I assure you."

"Oh, you'll see." Celestia said as she took Sunset's hoof, and walked out, trying to find the right house.

()()()()()

Eventually, Celestia stopped and showed Sunset an old, extremely modest farm.

"Here we are." Celestia said calmly.

"Why did you bring me to this old shack?" Sunset asked.

"This is the home of your overworked, underpaid employee, Applejack." Celestia said, pushing Sunset up close to the window.

Sunset looked in the window and found a green mare with a white mane, who could only be Applejack's grandmother, cooking an extremely small amount of hay.

"What's she cooking, a bag of hay?" Sunset asked rhetorically. "Surely they have more food than that. Look on the fire."

"That's your laundry." Celestia pointed out as they looked at a bubbling pot.

()()()()()

Inside the Apple home, Applejack's cousin, Babs Seed, was trying to get at her presents, only to be stopped by Applejack's older brother, Big Macintosh. He was a large red stallion with an orange mane.

"Oh, I don't think so." Big Mac said with a smile as he picked the eight-year-old up.

"Now Babs, we've gotta wait for Applebloom." Applejack said calmly.

"Applejack." Applejack's little sister, a four-year-old with a yellow coat and red mane tied in a bow named Applebloom, said. "I'm coming, Applejack."

Applejack walked up quickly to her sister, hobbling down the steps on her cane, as Applejack picked her up.

"Hey little buddy." Applejack said as she set Applebloom down while Big Mac helped their grandmother, Granny Smith, set Babs down as well.

"Wow, look at all the wonderful things ta eat!" Applebloom said excitedly. "We should thank Miss Shimmer."

"Right." Applejack said kindly. "T'my employer, Miss Shimmer, the founder a'the feast."

"'Feast' indeed." Granny said sadly, so only Applejack could hear. "With us havin' ta portion our food, so that it's barely bigger than a canary."

"Come on Granny, it's Christmas." Applejack said kindly.

"Oh alright." Granny said. "To Miss Shimmer."

Applebloom smiled. Then, seeing that her sister only had a little bit of food, she offered Applejack her piece, but Applejack kindly refused and hugged her sister.

()()()()()

"Tell me, Celestia." Sunset said with a pain in her heart, she'd never felt before. "What's wrong with that kind girl?"

"Much, I'm afraid." Celestia said. "If these shadows remain unchanged, all I can see is an empty chair where Little Applebloom once sat and a little crutch without an owner carefully preserved."

"Then that means..." Sunset said weakly. "Applebloom will..."

Sunset turned around, and Celestia had completely disappeared.

"Celestia, where are you?!" Sunset called out. "Don't go! You must tell me about Applebloom! Don't go!"

Suddenly, an odd black fog covered her vision as Sunset coughed and when the fog cleared, she found herself in a graveyard.

"How did I-?" Sunset began before looking up and her eyes widened in fear. "Who... Who are you?"

* * *

Aw, poor Sunset.


	4. The Last of the Spirits

Chapter Four: The Last of the Spirits

The figure that Sunset saw was a black mare with an indigo mane. The figure was an alicorn with a light violet helmet. She stood over Sunset, draping him in the figure's shadow.

"Are you the ghost of Christmas Future?" Sunset asked.

The spirit nodded its head.

"Please speak to me." Sunset requested. "What will happen to Applebloom?"

The spirit pointed several feet away where the Apple family was. Granny Smith was standing there solemnly as she comforted Babs, and Big Mac stood there as well with tears streaming down her face. As they walked off, Applejack stayed, holding the little crutch Applebloom had used, clutching it tight, and a tear of her own falling down her face. She then set it near the tombstone and sprinkled some dirt on the grave as Sunset understood what had happened.

"Oh no, dear heaven let it not be." Sunset said as she felt for her poor clerk. "Spirit, I didn't mean for this to happen. Tell me these events can still be changed."

Suddenly, he heard two mares laughing. One had dark brown hair and very young and moderately muscular while the other had black hair, a rather plain face and middle-aged.

"I've never seen a funeral like this before." The mare with dark brown hair said.

"Yeah." Her friend said. "No mourners. No friends to bid her farewell."

"Oh well." The first mare said. "Let's rest a minute before we fill it in. She's not going anywhere."

They walked off as Sunset and the spirit approached the grave.

"Whose lonely grave is this?" Sunset asked nervously as the spirit pointed down, and Sunset read on the tombstone her own name, "Sunset Shimmer."

"Why yours, Sunset." The spirit said with a wicked grin. "The richest man in the cemetery!"

The spirit pushed Sunset in as he grabbed a tree root for dear life as the spirit only stood there laughing. When Sunset looked down, the coffin opened, and red hot fire was spilling out of it.

"Oh no!" Sunset called out. "No!"

Sunset suddenly lost her grip on the root and fell into the coffin while the spirit laughed, and Sunset screamed, "I'll change! I'LL CHANGE...!"

Then, all was darkness.

* * *

Well that was short sweet, and terrifying.


	5. The End of It

Chapter Five: The End of It

Sunset was on a hard surface as she struggled with a dark object covering her.

"Spirit!" Sunset shouted out. "Spirit, let me out! I'll... Huh?"

Sunset opened her eyes and saw that she was on the floor of her own room, with the sun shining in.

"Why I'm back in my own room." Sunset said in surprise. She then looked outside and gasped in honest surprise. "Christmas morning! I haven't missed it! The spirits have given me another chance!"

Sunset quickly cleaned herself.

"I know just what I'll do!" Sunset said with a smile in her eyes. "They'll be so surprised."

()()()()()

Fluttershy and Twilight were looking at foals play when a very familiar figure appeared.

"Merry Christmas to one and all!" Sunset cried out as she walked up. "Hello, ladies. I'm sorry about what happened; allow me to make it up to you with this."

Sunset handed Fluttershy a bag of two hundred bits.

"Two hundred bits?" Twilight said in awe.

"Not a penny less." Sunset said with a smile. "I hope to see you again next year. Merry Christmas."

"Thank you, ma'am." Fluttershy said. "And a very merry Christmas to you too."

()()()()()

As Sunset walked around, she bumped into Flash, hardly aged by time and still being as lovely as when they first met all those years ago.

"Hey Flash." Sunset said.

"Sunset." Flash said.

"Merry Christmas." Sunset said.

"... Merry Christmas." Flash said with a smile.

()()()()()

All that day, Sunset said "Merry Christmas" to everyone she saw, and some were shocked while others smiled and said it back. On the road, Sunset ran into Sweetie Belle and her husband, Button Mash.

"Ah, Sweetie Belle." Sunset said with a smile.

"Aunt Sunset?" Sweetie Belle asked blankly.

"I'm looking forward to that wonderful meal of yours." Sunset went on as her heart felt ten sizes bigger seeing the look of surprise and joy on Sweetie Belle's face.

"You mean you're coming?!" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Of course." Sunset went on. "You know how much I love candied fruits with spiced sugar cakes. I'll be over promptly at two. Keep it piping hot, and I'm looking forward to meeting you too, dear."

"I will Aunt Sunset!" Sweetie Belle called out. "And a very merry Christmas to you!"

"That's your aunt who was so moody?" Button asked.

"I guess she had a change of heart." Sweetie Belle said with a smile.

()()()()()

"Merry Christmas, and keep the change." Sunset said as she gave the clerk the payment for her bundle and walked out as three little foals passed by, playing.

"Wonderful lads." Sunset said kindly. "And now for Applejack."

Sunset arrived at Applejack's house and knocked on the door, struggling to keep the stern face she'd had the previous day. Applejack opened the door and starred.

"Why Miss Shimmer!" Applejack said in surprise. "Merry Christmas. Won't ya come in?"

Sunset entered and walked inside. The place was just like it was when she visited the previous night, save the fact that the table had been cleaned up.

"Merry Christmas." Sunset grunted. "I've got another bundle for you."

"But ma'am, it's Christmas day." Applejack said.

"Christmas." Sunset went on. "Just another excuse for being lazy. And another thing, Applejack. I've had enough of this half-day off stuff! You leave me no alternative but to give you-"

"Toys!" Applebloom called out as she opened the bundle and found the toys Sunset had bought for Applebloom, and Babs.

"Yes toys." Sunset said. "No, no, no. I mean to say, I'm giving you a raise and making you my partner."

"A partner?!" Applejack said excitedly as Granny Smith pulled out the biggest bundle of food Sunset could find, and they all starred at it. "Oh, thank ya, Miss Shimmer."

"Merry Christmas, Applejack." Sunset said as she lifted Applebloom, holding a teddy bear, up.

"And God bless us, everyone." Applebloom observed.

Babs then played with her new toys next to Sunset as she sat in a rocking chair while Applejack, Granny, and Big Mac watched on happily. This was indeed the first of many merry Christmases with Sunset Shimmer and Applebloom, who with Sunset's help got better.

* * *

Hooray Sunset!


End file.
